1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method of cleaning roller blade wheel bearings that utilizes a cleaning solvent and a kit comprising a modular stacking unit which has the proportions and dimensions to fit firmly within the interior of a holding container.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Roller blade skates are well known to be used by younger children and adults alike. Each roller blade skate includes multiple bearings well known to those who skate. Although bearing cleaning methods and devices are abundant and often have extreme ease of use as their primary aim, many individuals nonetheless have difficulty cleaning roller blade wheel bearings, because of age, time constraints, or lack of mechanical abilities. Therefore it would be useful to have a roller blade wheel bearing cleaning method, and accompanying apparatus, which could be easily understood and manipulated by any individual, regardless of age or skill.
Typically, roller blade wheel bearings are uniform, each having an outer cylindrical body and a concentrically disposed inner cylindrical body defining a central cylindrical aperture. The concentrically disposed bodies define a through-race circumscribing the central aperture. The through-race contains lubricated ball bearings exposed from both sides of the wheel bearing, which accumulate dirt, whether sealed by a gasket ring or not. Ordinarily when cleaning such wheel bearings, an individual must clean each wheel bearing individually, resulting in an inconvenient and time consuming process. In addition, cleaning solvents for bearings are generally offensive compounds that can cause a reaction if they come in contact with an individual's skin. Further, when attempting to clean a plurality of bearings simultaneously within one container, the bearings are often scratched or damaged through violent contact with one another. Finally, bearings that reside in contact during cleaning, one on top of the other, do not permit access by the solvent to the entire surface area of the bearings.
Apparatus for cleaning bearings including containers having caps for enclosing a plurality of bearings and a solvent fluid are known. The Racetec.TM. bearing holder kit adapted for cleaning roller blade wheel bearings includes a single and unitary frame having several slots within which a plurality of bearings can be inserted one on top of the other. The closed unitary structure differs dramatically from the modular and open structure of the instant invention which allows unimpeded passage of a solvent directly through a bearing race.
Devices for cleaning bearings that employ a modular stacking unit held firmly within the interior of a container or that prevent relative motion of and therefore limit damage to bearings are not known. Nor does any of the previously known art show a device which allows a user to facilely dry the roller blade wheel bearings by allowing a plurality of bearings to be rolled over an absorbent surface as a single unit while being held by the device.
None of the above references, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a bearing cleaning device solving the aforementioned problems is desired.